


Wine And Cowards

by madeleine334



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Wine (The Witcher 3 DLC), Confessions, Corvo Bianco (The Witcher), Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22536325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madeleine334/pseuds/madeleine334
Summary: Geralt returns to Corvo Bianco only to find that a guest has arrived in the form of Dandelion, who tells him he can't return to Novigrad, or at least, doesn't plan on it.
Relationships: Former Jaskier | Dandelion/Priscilla, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 4
Kudos: 104





	Wine And Cowards

**Author's Note:**

> We call him Dandelion in this house.

The grape vines in Corvo Bianco yield bright red grapes shining under the bright sun that shone onto the Toussaint lands. Geralt felt light as he rode Roach to the stable, securing her, and then walking up the home that had become his, on the land that had become his. She wasn’t much, well, she actually was quite a bit. More than he could ever imagine himself having, really. She was his and she was beautiful. She was, well, she could be...a home. His home. The door of the Corvo Bianco estate was within eyesight and it was slightly ajar when Geralt approached it. 

“Sir,” Barnabas appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, as he is ought to do. “You have a visitor,” he said.

“You let a stranger inside?” Geralt grumbled, reaching for a dagger, knowing one of his swords would be unwieldy in the home’s small rooms if a fight were to break out.

“They were very insistent that they wait inside for you,” Barnabas seemed unaffected by the potential threat that he just allowed into Geralt’s home.

He pushed open the door slowly, peeking inside, still weary. 

“I assure you that the visitor is of no threat,” Barnabas assured, rolling his eyes at Geralt’s weariness. 

“You will be surprised at how dangerous even the most docile in appearance child can be,” Geralt glared, annoyed that he may have to fight off an intruder, right after the farewell of a friend.

Barnabas simply shook his head and made his leave, chuckling to himself.

Geralt sighed and entered with caution. The home was as he left it, the same pristine that he made a point to keep it in. He slowly crept closer before a sudden thumping of feet on the stairway sounded, revealing a brightly colored man with a grin on his face. “Dandelion,” the witcher murmured, putting the dagger away. Perhaps Barnabas was right.

“Geralt,” Dandelion greeted, “I was wondering when you would return.”

“What are you doing here?” the witcher asked, suddenly noticing the new painting handing above the mantle. It was of the bard and it was utterly vain. 

“Oh, my dear friend, I simply had to see for myself when I heard that the Great White Wolf had settled down in a vineyard in Toussaint,” Dandelion smiled.

“So you came all this way to see my home?” Geralt asked. “Here it is, when do you leave?”

“Geralt, my oldest and dearest friend,” Dandelion clutched his heart, as if in physical pain, “you plan on kicking me out already?”

“Who did you piss off, Dandelion?” Geralt asked.

“Unimportant,” Dandelion admitted, “I just can’t return to Novigrad for a long time. The Chameleon will be just fine with Zoltan there.”

“And what of Priscilla?”

The bard hesitated, quickly recovering, but Geralt did not miss it, deciding to ignore it for now.

“Priscilla will be fine, she knows I will be gone,” he assured, keeping the smile on his face, even if it looked strained. 

“Uh huh,” Geralt let out a breath, “the guest room is upstairs, but I’m going to assume you already knew that.”

“You know me so well.” 

Geralt smirked at that. “Just don’t cause any trouble while you’re here,” he told him, knowing full well that was most certainly going to not happen. “I don’t want any women in the house,” he adds.

“Of course, of course,” Dandelion said, “Besides,” a sigh, “I don’t plan on entertaining any women for a long, long, time.”

Geralt eyed him, noting the downtrodden look his friend now sported. He was bad at talking about feelings, even worse when it comes to asking people about their own feelings. “Right,” he said, turning to rid himself of this awkward moment between he and his self proclaimed best friend. 

But, he couldn’t leave it that way. “Is something wrong?” he asked, turning back to the bard.

Dandelion seemed to snap out of whatever trance he had been in, smiling once again. “Nothing’s wrong, Geralt,” he lied.

“Sure,” the witcher said, looking at the bard one last time before going to his room. “I’m going to rest for a while. Don’t break anything.”

“Of course, my friend,” Dandelion cheerfully stated, “I think I’ll just hang out in the garden for a bit and write a new song.”

“Sure, you do that.”

*** 

Weeks passed at Corvo Bianco. Geralt learned how run the vineyard efficiently, or at least theoretically. He still had Barnabas to help him with most of it. The best part? Dandelion kept his word. There hadn’t been an ounce of trouble to be had, no women stepping foot in Geralt’s home, and no angry husbands knocking on his door. Although, there had been no new ballads from the bard and no joy to be had from the man. It was a little worrying, and if Geralt was being honest with himself, he was worried for his friend. He was obviously not okay, but that kind of thing was not something that Geralt knew how to approach.

It wasn’t until Dandelion insisted on getting absolutely plastered that Geralt finally thought of a way to broach the topic of what was weighing on Dandelion’s mind. Unfortunately, Geralt was still unable to think of a way to demand the man tell him what was wrong. Dandelion hadn’t written a ballad in the entire time he had been there, which was extremely uncommon. 

“Where did you get that?” Geralt asked that night when he walked into the dining room where a large keg was waiting for him, along with Dandelion, who was looking a lot more chipper than he had been. He hadn’t even talked much in the near three weeks that he had been staying in Geralt’s guest bedroom.

“I...found it,” Dandelion gave him a guilty smile. “Okay, I took it from the creepy wine room that has some crusty red spots all over. Geralt, don’t tell me what it is, by the way.”

Geralt nodded, unwilling to indulge in the knowledge anyway. He didn’t want that particular story to be brought up when it was connected to his current business. “Whatever,” he said, letting it slide that Dandelion took the liberty of taking a cask of wine from his current supplies in order to get them drunk.

Dandelion was always a light weight, at least, when compared to Geralt. It didn’t take long for the man to become more loose lipped as they continued to drink the wine. Unfortunately, the bard seemed to have his sights on Geralt’s love life.

“What ever happened between you and Ye-Yennifer?” the bard hiccupped. 

“Djinn,” Geralt replied simply, taking another drink as they sat at his dining table.

“I know that part,” Dandelion snorted, “I mean with the kissy kissy and the, you know,” he propped up his head with his hand. 

“We broke the spell,” Geralt sighed, “and we decided we’re better off as just friends.”

“Oh,” was all the bard replied with.

Geralt took another drink.

“And where’s Ciri?”

“Living her life as a witcher,” Geralt told him simply. “She writes from time to time.”

“What about?” Dandelion asked.

“What about you and Priscilla?” Geralt then asked, almost demanded.

Dandelion hesitated, although he was more than used to Geralt’s more prickly nature. “Well,” he began fiddling with his fingers, “she and I are no longer seeing each other.”

“She finally figure out you’re more of a ladies’ man than you led on?” Geralt took another drink, finishing off his glass.

“No, actually,” Dandelion hadn’t touched his drink since the mention of Yennifer, something Geralt was just now starting to notice. “She realized that I’m less into ladies than even I realized.”

Geralt was suddenly thrown aback. For as long as he had known the bard, which was longer than he wished, the man was always chasing one woman or another. 

“I know,” Dandelion sheepishly smiled, looking down at the table as he did so, “it surprised me, too.” His face was red, be that from the wine or from something else.

“What happened?” Geralt finally asked.

“It kinda started after you saved me, actually,” Dandelion admitted. “Once everything kinda blew over, it really started to set in. I love Priscilla, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not...in love with her, not anymore. I thought I was,” he quickly said, “and I thought that maybe it was just that feeling people get when they finally settle down, until...until I realized that it wasn’t that feeling and that I no longer felt that...desire for her anymore.” 

Geralt listened to his friend as Dandelion continued.

“I said something to her that I didn’t mean to say,” he said, “and needless to say, we are not on speaking terms at the moment.”

“What was it?” Geralt asked, unable to deny his curiosity.

“That’s,” he hesitated, finally taking another drink of his wine, a big drink, “I said something while we were, you know...”

“Dandelion,” Geralt said, his voice gravely as always, but insisting the bard continues.

“I said someone’s name that was most certainly not Priscilla’s and most certainly not, well, a woman’s...”

This caught the witcher off guard. Never had he heard or seen Dandelion chase after a man, it had always been women. “What changed?” he had to ask.

“Seeing you again,” Dandelion grew impossibly redder before standing up. “I-I should go to bed now, good night, Geralt,” he quickly retreated upstairs, leaving Geralt with the mess of their drinks and his own thoughts.

*** 

That next morning, Geralt went to Barnabas to speak with him about the wine, as it was a bit weaker than he expected, despite it obviously being strong enough for Dandelion, not that it took much for the man. He had yet to actually see said bard since the night before.

“Wine takes time to ferment,” the man explained, “and you can’t just magically expect it to be perfect on your first go.”

“I’m a witcher, not a wine maker,” Geralt argued. 

“That’s what you have me for,” he looked almost prideful. “You know, it is nice to see that the guest bedroom is getting some use.”

“It’s only a temporary thing,” he then said.

“A shame, sir,” Barnabas then said. “I do not believe I have seen you smile quite as much in the time I have known you than as much as you have since your guest arrived.”

“What are you saying?” Geralt asked, not understanding what the majordomo was getting at. He tried to think back to Dandelion’s sudden appearance. Had he been smiling more? He supposed he had been a bit more busy with the bard now that he was there.

“I am merely saying that it would be a shame if you were to return to your usual grumpy self,” the man replied simply, leaving Geralt where he stood. “Oh,” Barnabas suddenly stopped, “your bard is in the gardens. I would go see him if I were you.” He then left.

Sure enough, Geralt found Dandelion moping in the gardens. 

“Get up,” he told him, “you’re going into town with me.”

Dandelion complained the entire trip there and it was almost as if the night before had never happened. Instead, it was Geralt and Dandelion on another one of their adventures, Geralt going into towns to find a job, while the bard followed. It almost brought a smile to Geralt’s face, almost, if only Dandelion’s complaints were less annoying.

They eventually found a tavern, where Geralt led them inside and tells Dandelion that they are going to eat there. They go to a more secluded part of the near empty tavern and take a seat at a table.

“What are you going to do when you go back to Novigrad?” Geralt asks after they order some food.

“I’m not sure,” Dandelion replies, “When are you going to go out and find some contracts?”

“Not any time soon,” he eyes the bard.

“You know, Corvo Bianco is beautiful and it’s pretty freeing out here. Maybe I’ll stay around and help you run the vineyard. I could learn,” he insisted.

“No,” Geralt replied, “you’re running away from your problems. Besides, you have the Chameleon.”

“No, I don’t, actually,” Dandelion suddenly got more quiet, less excited than he was a moment ago. “I gave it to Zoltan and I have no plans on returning to the city, or Novigrad in general.”

“You’re being a coward.”

Dandelion gritted his teeth at that. “I know,” he said, “but, I’m trying to change that.”

“You staying with me isn’t going to change anything,” Geralt then said.

“Well,” Dandelion stood up from the table, “it’s where my heart tells me to stay, Geralt, by your side,” and then he was gone, storming out of the tavern, gritted teeth and a flushed face.

_Oh,_ was all Geralt could think.

*** 

A relationship was unthinkable for a witcher. Their line of work was far too dangerous to involve another, especially someone who couldn’t properly defend himself. But, Geralt wasn’t like other witcher anymore. In fact, he had settled down in a country vineyard where he didn’t have to worry about having to fight monsters and fulfill contracts for a livelihood. He could have a steady income here at Corvo Bianco. He didn’t have to worry about a monster tearing a loved one apart more than anyone else did now.

He waited for Dandelion to return to the house, sitting outside the door, wanting to know when he returned. He wanted to see Dandelion walk up to the property, he wanted to be able to see that the man was okay when he returned.

He had thought about what the man had said and what it meant. Geralt is surprised to find that he is not exactly opposed to the idea of being physical with another man, knowing full well that he already cares for Dandelion at the very least. But, starting a relationship with Dandelion, he is unsure if he would even be what Dandelion really wants. Sure, they have traveled together, but they have never really lived together. Geralt didn’t even know what he was like to live with, having never been living in one place long enough to find out.

Dandelion does return once the sun begins to set, to Geralt’s relief. After all, there are still creatures lurking around the countryside. As soon as Geralt walks up to him, Dandelion pushes him aside and walks past.

“Dandelion,” Geralt calls out.

“You’re right,” Dandelion said, “I am a coward, but you don’t have to worry about me squatting here anymore. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“No,” Geralt then said, surprising even himself, “You’re going to stay here for as long as you want.”

Dandelion stopped and turned to face Geralt. “What?”

“I said you can stay,” he grunted, walking up to the bard once again.

Dandelion looked a bit flushed. “Geralt,” he began.

“No Dandelion,” he insisted, “You can stay,” he let out a sigh, “You can stay with me.”

“I am a coward, Geralt,” Dandelion replied, eyes gown misty, even in the darker lighting of the late afternoon, Geralt could see it. “You were right, I am a coward.”

Geralt couldn’t really deny that that was true. “That may be the case, but it does not change the fact that you don’t have to leave, Dandelion.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Perhaps I did not completely understand your intentions on coming here until you left,” Geralt replied, adverting his eyes from the bard, cheeks growing a bit more color on them.

“Do you want me to leave, Geralt?” Dandelion then asked. “Tell me that you want me to stay and I’ll stay.” Dandelion bit his lip, needing to hear it.

“I want you to stay, Dandelion,” Geralt then said.

“Why?”

“I don’t mind your company and the estate feels homier with you here,” Geralt replied simply, as if those were the only reasons.

Dandelion then laughs, catching the witcher off guard. “You’re horrible,” the bard said in between laughter. “After all these years and you still can’t admit that you like me,” he continued.

“Maybe that is it,” Geralt said, “maybe I am bad at admitting that I like you,” he gave Dandelion a small smile, “or at least tolerate you enough to be with you.”

“Geralt,” Dandelion seemed to be taken aback, “what do you mean by that?” He then chuckled a bit nervously. “You really shouldn’t get a romantic like me’s hopes up.”

Geralt chuckled, walking even closer to the bard, standing very close to him all of a sudden. “You talk far too much,” he said before cupping Dandelion’s cheek and leaning in to kiss him.

Dandelion nearly melted into the kiss after his first initial shock from it. It was everything he ever wanted in a kiss from the witcher, or at least, for their soft kisses to share together.

Geralt pulled back. “Stay?”

“You’ll never get rid of me,” Dandelion let out a breath, flushed and wanting more.

Geralt rose a brow. “What if it’s not what you expected?”

“Our time together is never as I truly expect,” Dandelion admits with a smile.

“I get grumpy.”

“You’re always grumpy.”

“What happens when I want more?”

“I want more,” Dandelion admitted, surprising Geralt a bit.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Dandelion said.

Geralt kissed him once again for a brief moment. “I’ve never settled down before,” he then admitted. “I don’t know what it is going to be like living with me.”

“We will find out together,” Dandelion told him. “You don’t know what it is like living with me, either.”

Geralt scoffed. “True.”

Dandelion nuzzled close to Geralt, letting out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want to leave,” he admitted.

Geralt wrapped his arms slowly around him. “I know.” They stood like that for a minute while the sun went down. It was dark by the time Geralt pulled the bard inside. “You still need to settle things in Novigrad,” he told Dandelion when he closed the door.

“I know,” Dandelion sighed, “but for one night, let me forget all of my problems in the city?”

Geralt let out an annoyed sigh, but conceded. “One night,” he decided, only to be repaid with the bard’s lips back onto his.

One night turned into two, which then turned into an entire week before Geralt and Dandelion returned to Novigrad, settling all of Dandelion’s affairs. He didn’t see Priscilla, but Zoltan informed them that the blonde had already left the city with plans to travel to other continents.

“That will be good for her,” Dandelion told Geralt once they left. “She always wanted to go on her own adventures.”

Geralt hummed at that, getting onto Roach before reaching down to help Dandelion up. “After we return, perhaps we take a break on adventures.”

“I need to learn how to help you run a vineyard, after all,” the bard smiled.

Geralt smirked, leading Roach to the road leading home. Their home. “I didn’t forget that you said my name while you were having sex with Priscilla, by the way,” he couldn’t help but say, chuckling to himself.

“GERALT!” Dandelion nearly screeched, surely hurting his voice. “Please forget about that!”

Geralt snickered, having Roach trot a bit faster down the Novigrad roads, knowing he would probably never forget that little bit of information concerning his new lover and best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Blood and Wine was such a fun expansion and I love Corvo Bianco. I played when it came out and after watching the Netflix series, I feel the urge to return to the games.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
